Jonah 4.2 describes, I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and
abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
No other god in any holy book is described as loving and compassionate, gracious and slow to anger. The One True God stands alone in this characterization of Who God really is and what He is really like. (more…)
Luke 8.14 explains the seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their 
way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.
Not too many Christians are happy with the current state of world affairs. Too much violence, too many corrupt people in high places, not enough economic growth and opportunities; unrest seems to be the norm.
What are the issues? The same ones that have plagued humanity from our beginning: selfishness, greed, power. (more…)
James 2.12 commands we speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives
freedom.
God plans to judge everyone. We inherently know this to be true yet suppress it as much as possible from our conscience. When we do think about God holding us accountable we normally give ourselves a passing grade as to our adherence to His commands.
The answer to what God will judge us on and how He will judge us has all been revealed by God so that we can pass the test. (more…)
1 Chronicles 10:13-14 explains, Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.
Imagine being hand chosen by God to be the first king over His people. Pretty high honor. You would also think the vetting process would have been the best. Yet, like the first man created, Adam, this first king was a failure. (more…)
Luke 1.15 promises he will be great in the sight of the Lord.
Few men don’t desire to be great. Its inherent to our nature. It comes from our origin: we are made in the image of God.
God is great and ever increasing in glory so too those made in His image aspire to greatness. Since being kicked out of paradise for our rebellion we have perverted the object or goal of our greatness. Most of us want others to see and recognize us as great, the reason our natural desire is perverted. (more…)
Proverbs 28.1 describes the righteous (being) as bold as a lion.
When we think of courage we think of near death experiences where some type of threat is about to take our lives but we somehow fight, resist or escape to avoid the intended result. We also think of those who went into such an event knowing they probably would not return and many didn’t. Our soldiers live in this category as do Christians who remain in hostile countries.
Certainly these are accurate descriptions of courage but maybe there is a more mundane description that all of us can and should embrace if we are going to live courageously. (more…)
John 15.9-10 warns us to remain in Jesus’ love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
If I must remain in God’s love am I not working my way to heaven, the antithesis of orthodox Christianity? Of course not for we cannot even know God until He reveals Himself to us. God must draw us to Himself for us to have a relationship with Him. In addition, He must supply the power and Person we need to remain in that relationship. (more…)
John 15.9-10 warns us to remain in Jesus’ love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, 
just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
It seems odd to hear God command us to remain in His love. We presume that we just always remain in His love without effort or thought on our part. After all, God so loved the world He gave Himself in His Son to reconcile us to Himself.
Why then would I need to remain in His love since He already loves me? Indeed God loves everyone but the experience of His love occurs only in a relationship with Him through Jesus. (more…)
2 Kings 17.41 observes even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did.
The so called, ‘greatest generation’ were the parents of the children who attended high school in the late 1940’s and 1950’s. These people became the parents of those who attended high school in the 1960’s to 1970’s.
The ‘greatest generation’ was considered such because of the selflessness by which they lived their life. They suffered much and paid much to make the life of their children better. (more…)
Proverbs 19:3 describes a person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord.
When the first man was caught disobeying God what did he do? He blamed the first woman for making him disobey God. What did the first woman do when she was asked about her part in the rebellion? She blamed the snake. (more…)
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